Manufacturer: LGB of America, 6444 Nancy Ridge Drive, San Diego, CA 92121. Price: Ready-to-run 2063 0-4-0 diesel locomotive, see your dealer for prices.

The D&RGW acquired Number 50 in 1963 from the Sumpter Valley Railway Company and put her to work as the Durango yard switcher. The SV had purchased her new in 1937 from the Davenport-Beseler Locomotive Works and numbered her 101. She had a 200 horsepower Caterpillar engine.

First, let's consider appearance and construction: LGB built the model mostly from tough, weather resistant plastic. The wheels are metal and the handrails and coupler release levers are brass. The locomotive measures 11 3/16 inches long over the footboards, 4 1/4 inches wide across the cab (about 5 1/4 inches wide overall), and very close to 5 3/4 inches high off the rail tops. In 1:22.5 scale, those dimensions equate to a length of 21 feet, a width of 7 feet 10 1/2 inches (across the cab), and a height of 10 feet 10 inches. They match our plans for the actual Number 50 perfectly.

Other dimensions also correspond exactly to those on our plans. Excellent!

The paint and finish are up to LGB's usual high standards. The color shades almost match those in our photos of the actual engine, the lettering and numbering are perfect, and every graphic on the original is present on the model. All paint edges are sharp, crisp, and opaque. First rate.

LGB varies from the original in only one area. They still use bright brass where the actual engine had black painted metal, such as on handrails. That apparently allows LGB to cater both to the toy, and to the more serious hobby, markets. Most hobbyists are quite capable of painting brass rod and would probably rather do that kind of touch-up than entirely paint an undecorated locomotive; few should complain.

The detailing also is surprisingly complete. Virtually everything on the prototype appears on the model (and in the right place). Most of us will be delighted with the locomotive exactly as it comes from the box. A few may want to elevate such an exceptional model to virtual perfection. If you do, you should replace the front and rear headlamps with the smaller, distinctive versions in the photo of the real Number 50. You may also want to replace the horn. Again, the full-size engine had a distinctive and very small horn under D&RGW ownership and a bell as the factory delivered her. The fuel filler cap (near the cab, behind the horn) is too large; you may decide to model it more accurately. All plans and photos we have show both the front and rear footboards as single, long planks of wood instead of the two separate sections LGB modeled. Yes, I realize I am picking nits but prize winning modelers must pick those nits and more and this paragraph is for them.

The cab detail is very complete and extremely credible. The cab itself has illumination and contains the familiar three-position switch ("off", "lights-only", "lights-and-power-to-the-wheels"). The sunshades pull down or disappear into a recess in the cab wall. Finally, the model comes with LGB's reliable knuckle couplers in place of the less realistic hook/loop couplers (also included). The knuckles add substantially to the overall appearance.

Now, let's look at performance: It is outstanding, particularly for a switcher. Part of the reason may be the model's weight, probably close to five pounds. Our sample started very slowly and smoothly and crept at about two or three scale miles per hour without surging or hesitation, even when pulling no rolling stock. The drive was quiet and silky. One driver has a rubber traction tire but the locomotive displayed none of the characteristic "rock and roll" traction tires often cause. We tested the model on our level, indoor test track, an oval with LGB 1500 (2 1/2 foot) radius curves. The wheels began to slip under a load of 14 LGB boxcars. All rolling stock had metal wheels, suggesting the maximum number of cars you could pull might rise by one or two, were you to use lighter, plastic wheels. As with all LGB products, the switcher will negotiate (LGB 1100) 2 foot radius curves easily.

I photographed the real locomotive in October, 1991, at the Colorado Rail Museum in Golden. If a good modeler were to make the few alterations to the model I mentioned above, weather it carefully, and photograph it, most people would have trouble distinguishing the photo of the model from one of the actual locomotive.

It runs as well as any locomotive we have so far tested, its appearance reflects careful attention to manufacture, detail, and finish. The overall quality is excellent.

With the introduction of D&RGW Number 50, LGB has shown it is able to excel at manufacturing a rugged, high quality, truly scale model capable of satisfying both the casual and the serious hobbyist. That qualifies it as an outstanding product.-RR